Tammy Salyer

Like a Delicious Edible, The Green Knight Lingers Long After Its First Impression

Green Knight - Looper.jpg

Let's talk about the movie The Green Knight, shall we? Mein Gott, what an extraordinary event it is! I was blown away by everything in the movie, from the acting to the settings and sound effects to the costumery to the transformative storytelling. I knew not to expect a Marvel-like experience. Knew? HOPED WITH ALL MY BEING! I'm so burned out on superheroexplosionfreneticism in films, and if you're anything like me, I know you understand. So tell me who else has seen it? What did you think? I can't wait to see it again to piece more of the mystery together and revel in all I saw and missed once more.

Image credit: https://www.looper.com/406712/breaking-down-the-trailer-for-the-green-knight/

Book Review: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the CrematorySmoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I haven't read (or in this case listened to an audiobook of) a story more insightful, funny, poignant, revealing, and informative in maybe ever, and especially not about the topic of death. Caitlin Doughty's stories are absolutely fascinating, at times hilarious, and often profound. I first heard her on a podcast about working in a crematory, and thanks to just how much fun her stories about the death industry come across, thanks to her natural genius of storytelling (and despite death being practically the dictionary definition of the opposite of fun), now I'm more informed about death than a person in our culture could ever expect to be under normal circumstances. For that reason, I'm deeply grateful for Caitlin and the work she does. I highly recommend this memoir-slash-philosophy opus to anyone who's ever been curious about what happens to our bodies after we die, and who the people doing it are. So good.

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The Mandalorian, a short review

So, The Mandalorian, maybe if I’d never seen an action movie in my life and this was my first one, I might have been a tiny, eensy bit entertained. But my godiva, I gave up after two episodes. The predictability was nauseating, and the repetition even more so. Oh look, a plot conflict. Let’s shoot at it! Oh look, another plot conflict. Let’s shoot at it! Yet a new plot conflict. Hmm, what should we do? Oh, let’s try something new. First we’ll punch it, then shoot at it! 

So yeah, I get that this is Star Wars and this guy was a bounty hunter and bounty hunters do a lot of shooting. And to be honest, I might have been able to stomach one or two more episodes of it if the writers hadn’t done something radically wrong. Well two things. First, they gave the protagonist nothing to latch on to in terms of making him the least bit either interesting or likable. He was just a laconic, faceless guy who shoots first, second, and last in every situation. In short, an impulsive, emotionally vacant psychopath. Then they made him not just dull and one-dimensional but also extremely unlikable by having him capitulate to the Jawas by heading off to kill a big, nonthreatening, rhino-type creature and steal its eggs. Did the rhino pose a threat to anyone? No. Was it planning to? No. So now the Mando is just Eric and Donald Trump Jr., going big-game hunting for sport, and not even for his own trophy but for someone else’s. Ugh. I’m really unable to get into a story where the “hero” is willing to hurt anyone or anything else for his own gain. How is that heroic? 

The last thing, and the thing most related to story craft in general, that really jumped out at me is this. One of the reasons movies and television are so popular is the visual nature of them. The Mando had a lot of great scenery (but honestly, after every other Star Wars except Empire, seeing yet another desert planet with mud and clay buildings has lost its luster)—but what it doesn’t have is a main character. It just has a guy in a mask who does things, and pretty much the same thing over and over. Part of what lets humans relate to and empathize with other humans is our highly expressive faces. We know a person’s feeling bad no matter how much they assure us they’re fine because we are brilliant at picking up on facial and body cues. A baby’s first reference in the world is its mother’s face; conversely, many people on the autism spectrum have a hard time relating to others because they don’t pick up on visual, particularly facial, cues. Therefore, it’s no stretch to recognize that it would be more of a challenge to get an audience stoked on a main character who is utterly featureless. We don’t know how he’s feeling, therefore we can’t empathize, and therefore we’re left with a monosyllabic metal-head who runs around planets killing pretty much everything for personal gain. Not exactly the recipe for heroic material, and it takes much too long to make him an interesting-ish antihero for me, at least, to give a rat’s bootie.

Not surprisingly, The Mando seems to have struck a positive note with a wide audience, many (most?) of them die-hard Star Wars fans, and that’s fine. But when you deal in story for a living, eating sleeping and breathing it, any story with such deeply rooted flaws is going to be an easy pass. There is a myriad of stories in the world that have good, interesting, even if flawed, characters who have more to offer audiences than bang-bang and brooding silence. Even the new Mad Max character played by Tom Hardy did little more than grunt his way through the movie, but at least he gave audiences a sense of his depth he showed more expressiveness than the Mando’s pure white page of nothing. Arguably, Tom Hardy’s biggest acting skill is what he does with his expressions and physicality, more than his words, but that only works because we can SEE him.


Book Review: The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

The Twisted OnesThe Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kingfisher is my new favorite author. I've been devouring her books for about a year now, and I can't get enough. Not only does she write insanely fun fantasy, but I haven't read a creepier horror novel in a decade. The Twisted Ones is not only creepy but also so much fun, with such terrific characters and narrative voice, that I lost sleep because I didn't want to stop reading it. I'm getting the Hollow Places immediately. There is just no end to Kingfisher's brilliance and panache.

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Join SF/F authors EJ Fisch, GS Jennsen, and Tammy Salyer in a virtual chat to celebrate the re-release of Forged From the Stars!

How would you like to have a chat with me and fellow Sci-Fi authors EJ Fisch and G. S. Jennsen? Guess what? We want to chat with you too, and now we can!

Join the three of us in a virtual hangout to celebrate the re-release of Forged From the Stars on September 20, at 5 p.m. PST/8 p.m. EST. Sign up here: http://www.crowdcast.io/e/live-hangoutqa-with-sci

Details:

Forged From the Stars brings you the first books in three exciting, original space opera adventure series, Ziva Payvan, my own Spectras Arise, and Aurora Rising. These epic tales feature empires that stretch across the vastness of space, suspenseful action as new worlds are discovered and old ones destroyed, thrilling interstellar warfare and deadly conspiracies that promise to reshape galaxies. 

EJ, G. S., and I will be together to chat about our inspirations, SF/F heroes, favorite wines, how many cats is too many, and anything else YOU want to know. You’re invited to join in the fun and bring your questions!

BONUS! All registrants for the event will receive a free ebook download of Forged From the Stars. We’d love to see you there!

Feel free to leave your questions or other comments for us ahead of time on our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/8055844001843

About the Authors:

G. S. Jennsen is best known for her internationally bestselling science-fiction Amaranthe series. Based in Colorado, she has been a lawyer, a software engineer and an editor, but has found the life of a full-time author preferable by several orders of magnitude. Find G. S. at: www.gsjennsen.com and on Twitter @gsjennsen.

Southern Oregon-based author EJ Fisch is a long-time action junkie and fan of the science fiction genre. They say write what you like to read, so her Ziva Payvan series combines her two favorite genres—space opera and spy thriller—and has been lauded for its grit, compelling character development, and many twists and turns. Find EJ at: www.ejfisch.com and on Twitter @ejfisch.

Former paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, Tammy Salyer traded in her M-16 for a MacBook in 1999 and hasn't regretted a thing. Her Spectras Arise series has been described as "grittier than a grunt's pile of three-week-old field gear" and her Shackled Verities fantasy series has been praised for its "compelling plot, intriguing characters and a pretty spectacular world." Find Tammy at: www.tammysalyer.com and on Twitter @tammysalyer.

Book Review: Devolution by Max Brooks

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch MassacreDevolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hands-down the best book I've read in 2020. I've never finished the last page of a book and considered immediately starting to re-read it, but I did with Devolution. Suspense, thrills, conspiracies, survival, horror—this book is a masterful portrait of surviving against the worst odds and the worst monsters. It's a modern-day John Carpenter's The Thing. I can't wait for a movie to be made (and I'd be shocked if one weren't already in the works). Max Brooks, please hit us with your next book in less time than what passed between World War Z and Devolution. So terrific!

Bonus: Kate Mulgrew and Nathan Fillion also appear in the audiobook.

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